Consulate

Consulate, 1799–1804, in French history, form of government established after the coup of 18 Brumaire (Nov. 9–10, 1799), which ended the Directory . Three consuls were appointed to rule France—Napoleon Bonaparte (see Napoleon I ), Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès , and Roger Ducos. Sieyès and Ducos were soon replaced by Jean Jacques Régis de Cambacérès and C. F. Lebrun , and the Consulate became little more than a scheme for autocratic government by Bonaparte, who was made first consul for life in 1802 and emperor in 1804.